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Need Some Travel Advice
My husband and I are planning a trip to Banff/Lake Louise then on to Vancouver. We plan to be in the Vancouver/Vancouver Island/Seattle area for 7 to 10 days.
Is it better to stay in one of the 3 cities and sightsee from a 'home base'? or should we stay a few nights in each location? Does anyone have any recommendations regarding hotels $100 to $200/night? What is the 1 must see in each city? We are so much looking forward to this road trip. We're traveling across country from Detroit so we don't want to miss anything! Your help will be most appreciated. Thanking you in advance. Bugs |
Pick 3 bases. Victoria on Vancouver Island is a 90 minute ferry ride away, plus driving time.
Vancouver is not that close to Seattle. It is a more of a pain now to clear customs and immigration entering the USA than before. Moreover, the freeway traffic around Seattle is a pain that does not make me long for Atlanta, which is awful to drive in. Also, the drive from Banff or Lake Louise to Vancouver will take you all day. It is rather tiresome in my experience. I do suggest that you allow time to stop for a few views in Glacier National Park. The Selkirks and the Purcells throw up some sharp, jagged peaks. You will go right through Glacier if you take the Trans Canada route. If you do take the Trans Canada, and I see no real alternative, you will want to deviate from that route near Kamloops. Take the Coquihalla toll road to Hope. It is much faster than the other routes. I have not driven it in a while, however. Last year, I drove from the ferry terminal to Manning Provincial Park and then drove through the Okanagen Valley to Revelstoke and over Rogers Pass to Yoho National Park. Rogers Pass is in Glacier NP, and the visitor center is worth a stop. |
Thank you so much for the information. From what I understand of your message, we will plan 3 nights at each location. I wasn't thinking of the border crossings and I don't really want that hassle!
On your advice, we will make it a point to stop at Glacier N.P. Maybe we'll just take our time and spend extra time there. It sounds beautiful. Can you recommend somewhere to stay the night in that area? |
>>>On your advice, we will make it a point to stop at Glacier N.P. Maybe we'll just take our time and spend extra time there. It sounds beautiful. Can you recommend somewhere to stay the night in that area?<<<
I do not suggest that you spend the night there, as that will not allow you to make sufficient progress on your journey from Banff to Vancouver (unless you want to stretch Banff - Vancouver over 3 days). At an absolute minimum you need to get as far as Revelstoke on your first night out of Banff. You could press on, however, and get as far as Kamloops. When Bob recommended taking the Coquihalla Highway between Kamloops and Hope, I'm sure he thought you were going to drive from Banff to Vancouver in one day. If you split the journey into two days, you have a choice of a couple of more scenice, but slower, routes: (1) <b>Via the Okanagan Valley and Manning Provincial Park</b>. If you choose this route, drive west from Banff through Lake Louise, Golden, Revelstoke to Sicamous. If you are not making good time, turn south at Sicamous, and drive through Vernon to Kelowna on the shores of Lake Okanagan. If you are making good time, stick with the TransCanada Highway (Hwy #1) further west than Sicamous, until Salmon Arm. Then turn south towards Vernon and Kelowna. The drive between Sicamous and Salmon Arm will give you glimpses of the Shuswap Lake. Overnight in Kelowna. The next day drive south from Kelowna on Hwy #97. Just before you reach Peachland, turn west onto boring Hwy #97C. When you reach Hwy #5A, reap your reward and drive south on this scenic road towards Princeton. At Princeton turn west onto Hwy #3, and drive through lovely Manning Provincial Park towards Hope. At Hope join Hwy #1 and drive west through Chilliwack to Vancouver. This route takes about 5.5 hours without stops, but count on it taking the better part of a day. You will experience the urge to stop and enjoy the views in Manning Provincial Park. (2) <b>Via the Fraser River Canyon</b>. If you choose this route, drive as far as Kamloops for your first night. The next day drive west to Cache Creek, then turn south towards Lytton and Hope. At Hope turn west towards Vancouver. This route will take you through the interesting Fraser River Canyon. Between Lytton and Hope you'll have the opportunity to ride the "Hell's Gate" air tram if you wish. Even the scenery that you see from the Coquihalla Highway (Hwy #5) is pleasant enough. However, the other two routes are superior from a scenic point of view, in my opinion. Of the two, I believe Manning Provincial Park has the edge in terms of sheer beauty. On the other hand, the Fraser River Canyon is interesting, especially for train buffs. I'll address the Vancouver / Victoria / Seattle part of your question in another post. |
>>>From what I understand of your message, we will plan 3 nights at each location.<<<
I recommend that you spend more time in Vancouver than in Victoria or Seattle. You said you wanted to spend 3 nights in each city, so that suggests you have 9 nights to spend in the area. If you spend 1 night on the road between Banff and Vancouver, which I recommend you do, you'll have only 8 nights in the area. In that case I suggest you allocate them as follows: Vancouver : 4 Victoria : 2 Seattle : 2 >>>What is the 1 must see in each city?<<< Vancouver : Stanley Park Victoria : Butchart Gardens Seattle : Pike Place Market |
<b>INFORMATION RESOURCES</b>
<b>Fodor's Destinations</b> A good source of information about each of these cities is the "Destinations" section of the Fodor's web site. The itineraries suggested there are excellent, if too rushed for my taste. I never attempt to see everything that they pack into a single day. But they are a great starting point for your research. <b>Find Family Fun</b> It's a web site maintained by a real-life Vancouver family with 3 kids. Although the information is written from a family point of view, it's very valid for adults too. A useful feature is that you can sort the attractions by price range and by location. Because of Vancouver's layout, it makes sense to group activities. For example, it's more practical to see the centrally located landmarks on one day and the "North Shore" landmarks on another day. http://www.findfamilyfun.com/ <b>Walk Vancouver</b> Walking itineraries along with descriptions and photos of what you can see on those routes. http://www.walkvancouver.com/ <b>Discover Vancouver</b> A web site with information on just about every aspect of Vancouver that a tourist could possibly want to know. http://www.discovervancouver.com/ <b>Ferries to and from Vancouver Island</b> British Columbia Ferries This is the company whose ferries you use to get from Vancouver to Victoria (actually Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay). http://www.bcferries.ca Washington State Ferries Their car ferry from Sidney, BC to Anacortes, WA is a popular way to get from Victoria to Seattle. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/ <b>Tourism British Columbia</b> The new and improved web site. http://www.hellobc.com <b>Tourism British Columbia's old web site</b> I personally prefer the old web site to the new and improved one. If you look at it region by region, it has great maps, suggestions of what to see, suggested itineraries, etc. <b>Travel Alberta's Rockies page</b> Not as user-friendly as Tourism British Columbia's web site, in my opinion, but quite informative nonetheless. http://www1.travelalberta.com/Rockies/ <b>Driving times, distances and route maps</b> http://www.mapquest.com <b>Weather</b> Do not look only at the average daily high and the average nightly low. Look also at the highest high and the lowest low. You will find wild swings, any one of which you could experience. For a rough idea, look at Weather Base. http://www.weatherbase.com/ For temperatures during the exact date range that you'll be in a given place, use the Trip Planner feature of the Weather Underground web site. Looking up Banff's figures will give you an idea of the sort of thing you can expect throughout the Canadian Rockies. http://www.wunderground.com/tripplanner/index.asp# <b>What To Pack</b> I don't know of a better source of information on this topic than my own web site. http://groups.msn.com/CalgaryandCana...urwebpage.msnw <b>Word search at Fodor's Talk.</b> Just about every question you can possibly think of has been asked before. There's a huge amount of information tied up in previous discussion threads. Doing a word search for Banff or Victoria or whatever will bring up heaps of information on the relevant place. |
Hello Judy in Calgary,
The information you provided is incredible. We checked our maps and marked the routes you suggested. We're considering the route Via the Okanagan Valley and Manning Provincial Park and staying in Kelowna. We love scenery. We also reconsidered our timetable. We may stay a total of 6 nights in B.C. That will give us more time in Banff and Vancouver. The web sites you provided are great sites and offer a ton of information. We can't thank you enough. Regards, Bugs |
Bugs,
My family just returned from BC and had an amazing time. We left Sicamous (went houseboating there with some relatives) and drove south of Kelowna to Osoyoos where we stayed at a B&B called "The Observatory." The owners are Jack and Alice Newton. They take all their reservations over the internet, so if you do a search for it I'm sure the web site will come up. It's on a mountainside above Osoyoos and was a real highlight of our trip. The rooms are beautiful, breakfast incredible, and at night and in the am Jack takes you into the observatory to see stars, planets,etc. He's an amateur astronmoer but very into it and has had many of his photos published in National Geographic and Astronomy journals. It was very cool. Kelowna looked nice too but seemed very crowded and busy. Just an idea for you. SF |
Oh, I meant to also tell you,we stayed at the Sylvia Hotel in Vancouver. It is an older hotel but we loved it and it would be in your price range too. The location is THE BEST. Right on the water at English Bay and steps from Stanley Park. I'm glad we stayed there.
SF |
Decide what you want to do in Victoria..personally I would spend one or two days there, then spend one day driving to Long Beach (West side of island between Tofino and Ucluelet) Its a couple hours drive but you go through Cathedral grove, and once you get there some of the beaches are gorgeous. Don't just stop at one, spend a bit of time exploring one then move on, they are all quite different. The area by the Wickaninnish Inn is really nice. If you do go, stop in the city of Coombes (its on the way) at a place called Goats on the roof.
Some places to see in Victoria: The parliament building then walking along the water, Craigdarroch castle, Royal BC Museum, Butchart Gardens. Some other options only if you are interested in them, are the wax museum, underwater gardens, emily carr house, bug zoo etc. Most of the attractions are close together..you could do several in a day. Just my opinion. Feel free to contact me with q's. |
First of all, thank you for all your help and suggestions. This is a great site.
TO Judy in Calgary We are going to stay Kelowna before going on to Vancouver. Then we're taking your advise and staying 4 nights in Vancouver. I didn't realize just how much there is to see and do there. Plus we want to drive around the area and do some exploring. TO: SF Thank you for the Sylvia Hotel suggestion. We're going to stay there. It does seem really nice. TO : Cass We are going to stay 2 nights in Victoria. We'll see the parliament and the gardens for sure. We hope to go to those beaches you mentioned. My husband always likes to check out the beaches. Thank you all again. |
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